Moon River
by TessTaylor
Summary: “You seemed stunned, Miss Granger.” He whispered silkily in my ear. I snorted. “Can you really blame me, Professor Snape?”
1. Chapter 1

Okay, So I don't own HP. T.T;

It's okay. I still have my plotbunnies.

* * *

I was sitting at a restaurant in London watching the band set up for their Seven o'clock gig. It was six forty-seven.

I was early.

I picked a shaded corner in which to perch myself. Out of sight, out of mind. Or, that's how it seemed to be. My waiter hadn't been to refill my glass of red for twenty minutes.

This restaurant was cozy; it had atmosphere. The dining room was dark, dimly lit by chandeliers made of wire and different coloured glass with the bulbs dangling down. The windows were bare; no gaudy curtains or drapery interrupting the outside view. The patio was covered with a mesh that made the sun bearable, but allowed enough for the diner to see what all there was on the other side.

The furniture: backyard patio furniture. The plastic kind that could get broken or ruined without a major chunk of the budget missing to replace them.

I loved this place. It was eclectic and worry-free.

Almost the complete opposite of _me_. I sat near the band, but far enough away from the crowd, on the patio.

The breeze was perfect, the band was beginning to play, and finally, my waiter had refilled my glass.

Generously.

Jazz and blues music filled my ears. I gave myself up to it, dancing in my chair. People watched, but I didn't care; I was enjoying myself for once.

I was having a good time for me, and no one else.

Tonight was Me Time, and I wasn't going to let anyone ruin it.

I paused my dancing enough to let the band decide what to play next, and lit a cigarette. The opening notes of Little Wing played and I smiled. My night was perfect now. But of course, nothing lasts forever.

As I was dancing in my chair, once again, I noticed someone walk up to me. He asked me to dance and I accepted, barely looking at him.

All I could tell, though, once I got on the floor with him, was that 1) He was a great dancer, 2) He wore jeans and a white shirt, and 3) He was very tall. It wasn't until he told me how well I danced that I actually looked at his face.

I gasped in shock.

This was a man I hadn't seen in over eight years; a man I, and the rest of the world, presumed to be dead. I couldn't believe it but, there he was holding me, dancing with me. The eyes, the hair, that _damned smirk. _It was all the same as before.

"You seemed stunned, Miss Granger." He whispered silkily in my ear. I snorted.

"Can you really blame me, Professor Snape?"

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OMG ITS SNAPE!

hehe...yay! please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Still don't own Harry Potter. You'll have to see Mrs. Rowling for that...

anyhoo, on with the show!

* * *

Sitting back at the table I watched the man in front of me, thoughts and questions swimming in my brain. He stared right back at me, sipping his drink.

"Okay," he said, putting down his glass. "Let's say I start, yeah?"

I nodded.

"Alright, let's say." I agree.

Snape poked an ice cube in the glass, making it bob, as he took a breath and let it out slowly. He pushed it aside, and rested his now crossed arms on the table.

"I didn't die," He said. This merited another lady-like snort from yours truly.

"Oh, well, hey that's a great place to start. Thanks for the clarification." I smarted off.

Snape rolled his eyes at me.  
"Don't you start with your sarcasm, I wasn't finished," he scolded. I crossed my arms and waited for him to finish, eyebrows raised in anticipation.

"The only reason I'm still alive is because of a bezoar and many, many potions that I was smart enough to hide before hand." He continued. I nodded.

"I suspected as much," I said. He raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, you and Voldemort must have known each other well enough by this point; _he_ wouldn't have expected you to do something as simple as that in that situation." I explained.

"And I'm sure _you_ saw something like that coming." I added. He nodded.

"Another thing I saw coming was my need to go into hiding. I knew that, at least for a while, I wouldn't be very well received by either side." He said grimly.

"It wasn't too long after I'd settled myself in Russia that a man came up to me with the newest edition of the Daily Prophet. All they knew was that I was either dead or missing, and I was honored with an Order of Merlin. Instead of a one way ticket to Azkaban."

"So you decided to go back?" I asked. He laughed a little and shook his head.

"No, no. The man who gave me the paper...he informed our minister of my whereabouts. He came to my home personally. Apparently, I'd been voted in as Headmaster." He said with a bitter edge to his voice. I could feel my head moving from side to side, slowly, in disbelief.

"Doesn't get any more ironic, does it?" I asked him. He laughed, humorlessly.

"No, Miss Granger, I suppose it doesn't"

We sat in silence for a moment or two when he suddenly tapped the table in front of me.  
"Which brings us to you; why I'm here." I could feel my skin pale slightly. I was hoping we'd avoid the topic of _me._ I took a deep breath, letting it out in a huff. I was considering my options: A) Tell him a contorted version of the truth, or B) Just tell him the truth. I smiled to myself. Ah, to tell the truth. To have a confidante; relief, or burden? Taking a swallow of wine, I settled for the former, and gathered my thoughts. I took another breath and began.

"You know, of course, neither Harry nor Ron is with us, yes?" He nodded.  
"What you don't know is that my parents, family, and several of my muggle friends I was still in contact with are also casualties of the war." I paused, not knowing my emotions quite yet. I'd thought about these people often but I hadn't actually talked about them. Double checking myself, I decided I could go on.

"When the war was over with, and all the casualties were tallied up I didn't know what to do with myself. No matter how much I loved magic, it still killed the ones I loved more. I didn't want anything to do with it. I left. I hid my wand, not having the heart to smash it, and I left."

Snape watched my face as I glared down at the floor. His brow creased, confused.

"So that's it? You just picked up and left? Where is your wand?" He asked quickly.

"Yeah, that's it. Isn't that enough? I'm my own person, I'll do as I like." I replied shortly.

"And as for my wand, you can forget it. I'm sure the ministry has found it and has it locked away some where." I said waving my hand in the air.

"Ah, who cares, anyway? I'm never going back, so it won't do any good for me." I said bitterly. Suddenly, Snape was sitting very close to me.

"Let me tell you something. You need to care because people who survived, people who love you are worried and scared for you. Half of them think you've offed yourself out of grief."

I was pressed up against the back of my chair. Severity marked his face as he said this to me.

"And as a matter of fact, there _are_ people who need you." He added, relaxing his face a bit. I had the audacity to snort at this.

"Oh, really? Tell me _one person_ and I promise I'll come running back, wand in hand, eager as my eleven year old self." Bad move on my part. Turns out he had just the person in mind.  
His face slowly unveiled his smug smirk and he crossed his arms.

"Me."

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now why would Snape need our Miss Granger? Tune in next time to hear Snape say...*something sarcastic*


	3. Chapter 3

...still not owning Harry Potter. but I would totally own him in a game of Yahtzee.

* * *

Now I was confused as ever. It must have shown because he started laughing at me.

"Why else would I have come here? You are important to people, you know." He informed me, still smiling.

"Yes," I said slowly, "but why specifically you? When things were _normal_, you never gave me a second glance. Well, if only to hurl insults, but..." I trailed off.

Snape heaved a sigh, letting it out yoga-style.

"Granger, I accepted the minister's offer. I am the official headmaster of Hogwarts."

My head snapped up to look at him, to see if he was serious. There was no trace of the humor that had been there moments before. He continued speaking.

"You see, I had plans to open my own shop; an apothecary of sorts. The idea was about to become a reality when I had another encounter with the minister. I had initially given him a stern no in response to his offer but I've come to find that Arthur can be quite relentless."

I felt my jaw fall open.  
"Arthur Weasley is _minister_?" I gasped. Snape nodded. He seemed a bit irritated by the fact.

"Yes, Weasley finally got out of the basement." He grumbled.

"He saw me in Diagon Ally. Never accept a drink from the man; you'll never get away, especially if he wants something. We sat in the Leaky Cauldron for over an hour before he even got to why he wanted to speak to me." He rolled his eyes and massaged his temples at the memory. It was kind of comical to see him so annoyed with Mr. Weasley.

"Finally, after I couldn't take anymore anecdotes about Molly, I had to get to the point. I asked him what he wanted with me. He brought up the Hogwarts offer, and I immediately shot it down. Did that deter the man, oh no. He started talking about his children; the ones who didn't survive the war." He said quietly.

"He laid the guilt trip on me. He said he wanted only the best to head the school and, consequently, the only person he could see replacing Dumbledore and Minerva was me." He paused to take a drink and shook his head.  
"His logic's a little twisted, wouldn't you say so?" He said more than asked. I was still confused. I sat up in my chair and leaned on the table, on my elbows.

"So, where do I come in?" I asked him. He grinned and turned so he was facing me strait on.

"Well," he said, "I need teachers, don't I?" as though it were completely obvious.

I felt my mouth hang open again but I quickly snapped it shut. Hadn't I _just_ said that I wouldn't go back?

"Yes, I know what you _said_." Snape answered. I glared at him.  
"Stay out of my head. What makes you think I'll go back with you?"

He gave me another Snape-Signature Smirk.

"I know you'll come back. Curiosity always kills the Griffindor." I snorted.

"It's been eight years. If I were curious enough, I would have already gone back." Score: one to Hermione.

Snape "hmmed" as he thought. After a moment or two, he nodded to himself and spoke.

"Miss Granger. If you were to come back to Hogwarts, you would have your own rooms, summers off, _and_..." he paused.

I raised my eyebrows.

"Well? And?" I asked impatiently.

"And your pick of what subject you'll teach. Except potions; that one is mine."

I tilted my head, questioningly.  
"But you're the Headmaster."

Snape rolled his eyes.  
"Glorious observation, Granger. Yes, I know I'm headmaster, and as Headmaster I'll do as I please. Even if it is teach a class." He said sarcastically.

I sighed. I'd never admit it to him but, I _was_ curious. Hearing that Arthur and Molly were doing well made me hopeful. I shook my head. I couldn't believe I was actually considering this offer. As I was thinking, the waiter passed by the table. I at him and pointed at my glass. When it was full, I downed half of it and turned to Snape, who was waiting patiently with a funny look on his face.

"What?" I asked

He shook his head.  
"Nothing, really, it's just in the years that I knew you I would have never thought of you as the drinking type." He said, somewhat amazed.

I laughed.

"Eight years of thinking about the past will drive anyone to drinking." I said.

Suddenly, a mental picture came to view: I was alone in a small white room with a bottle of red wine before me. All I did was sit and drink, and the more I drank, the bigger the bottle got, reminding me of an inverted Alice in Wonderland.

The image startled me and I tried shaking my head back into focus.

Snape looked at me, concerned.  
"Are you alright? What's wrong?" I didn't say anything. I was still thinking about the Alice-bottle.

I couldn't live like that.

I focused back to the restaurant, and looked at Snape.

"When do I start?"

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Everytime you review, Jesus kisses a kitten.


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